Before being elected to public office, Hansen was a school teacher, a Teamster’s Union steward, and also a truck driver for the City of Green Bay. He served on the Board of Supervisors for Brown County from 1996 to 2002.[1]

Hansen was the target of a recall effort as a result of his fleeing the state in an attempt to prevent the Senate from being able to vote on Act 10. On July 19, however, he handily defeated his challenger and retained his seat.

A chronology of the recall effort:

February 25: The committee "Recall Dave Hansen" officially registered with the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board.[3] 13,582 signatures were required by April 26, 2011 to force a recall election. He was considered to be one of the three potentially vulnerable Democratic senators.

April 21: Recall supporters filed about 18,872 signatures with Wisconsin's Government Accountability Board.[4]

June 10: Wisconsin's Government Accountability Board certified the recall election.[5]

July 19: Hansen defeated his recall challenger, Republican David VanderLeest, receiving 66% of the vote.[6]